Themelist

It's said that a warship carries with it the courage and hope of the country it protects. In the Second World War, a lot of that courage and hope was sent to the bottom of the sea. Lost, but not forgotten. The spirits of those vessels remained, trapped in their rusting hulls as the years passed on. They watched powerlessly as the people they were built to protect suffered through the trials of the latter 20th century.

In 2015, the Elvari arrived; humanoid aliens wielding magical power, declaring humanity to be a 'useless non-magical race'. Announcing their intent to exterminate the human race, the Elvari stated that humans 'didn't deserve this planet'. They quickly established bases and began their attack with a combination of advanced technology and mind-bending magical powers. Though disadvantaged, the world's superpowers managed a short stalemate. Many people died during every incursion.

In their prisons, the spirits of sunken warships who had once stood proudly and fought with all their might could stand no more. One by one, they reached with their senses, sifting through their people for those who would be compatible and offering their power.

These lucky few came to be called Fleet Maidens. With powerful newfound magic, humankind found a weapon that could be used against their alien foe. The United Nations formed the 1st World Defense Fleet base at Midway Island, placed it under command of a council of officers from various world militaries, and began gathering Fleet Maidens together in order to present the Elvari with a unified defense. As the 1st Fleet filled out, additional fleets began to form as more Fleet Maidens were found.

The Fleet crosses all political lines; all worldviews; all walks of life; brought together by the combined hopes and dreams of the world both past and present to stand against a common foe.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is this?

Fleet Maiden is an original theme combining the Mecha Musume and Magical Girl tropes. The main focus is on adapted naval combat against a primarily naval enemy. One can enter the theme expecting heavy metal armor and the thunder of high caliber guns. Set in a modern era, the aging technology stands out because of its distinct magical nature. In a strange irony, the outdated weapons of these ancient warships is far more effective than the current cutting-edge weapons used by modern navies.

2. What is a Fleet Maiden?

A Fleet Maiden is a girl who has been chosen by the spirit of an old, sunken warship. Wielding this power, the chosen girl can assume a battle form where she wears the equipment of her patron vessel as armor, and can command her weapons mentally. The arsenal varies from ship to ship, however is always magical in nature which gives every Fleet Maiden an edge against the Elvari.
Every Fleet Maiden is plagued by the need to "Resupply" after using her magic. The most straightforward way to do this is, of course, for her to eat. The amount of food consumed during this resupply period is dependent on how much damage she sustained, how much ammunition she fired, and her ship class.

3. Ships have spirits?

In the Fleet Maiden theme, warships do indeed have spirits. In the sense that some belief systems apply spirits or minor gods to everything that is given enough reverence. Warships in particular are susceptible to this, as sailors are notoriously superstitious and place their hopes on their ship. In general, the warship's spirit grows stronger the more belief is weighed on it, and so more famous warships have stronger spirits. In some cases, such vessels carried the weight of hope for their entire nation-and carried that to the bottom with them. These spirits are pained by shame and a desire to once again give their people hope, gathering their power and-when the seemingly unstoppable Elvari attacked-reaching out to find avatars to carry forth their desires.
Only wrecks that are old enough have amassed the power to give their power this way, and so the Second World War is the largest source of spirits contributing their powers this way. A ship must also have been sunk in combat, or they will not have the desire to prove themselves.

4. What are the spirits like?

Much like regular people, the ship-spirits have a variety of personalities. A handful have been established by played characters so far, as examples.

Yamato embodies protection. Her only desire is the safety of Japan and she has no real obligation to other countries. However, she sees her Vassal's desire to protect everyone as a good quality and encourages it. The spirit of Yamato is fairly unusual among spirits, as she rarely if ever speaks to her Vassal or anyone else. She observes in silence and only interacts through very vague visions.

Albacore …

Hood embodies her parent nation. Taciturn, self-reliant, but also caring. As one of the older warships, dating back to the First World War, Hood feels obligated to help guide and instruct the newer, younger vessels around her. She speaks often with her vassal and shares much in common with her.

Mentioned: The ship has been mentioned as having an active Fleet Maiden. However, no names, personalities, affiliations, or backgrounds have been revealed.

USS Hornet, Yorktown-class Aircraft Carrier

USS Johnston, Fletcher-class Destroyer

Tirptiz, Bismarck-class Battleship

Scharnhorst, Scharnhorst-class Battlecruiser

6. Are Fleet Maidens famous?

It's ultimately up to the Maiden how much they publicize themselves. Certain girls prefer the attention more than others and actively seek it out. In the public eye, the Maidens are generally considered heroes, fighting back an otherwise unstoppable enemy while the regular military has all but failed to protect them. A company in Japan called Big Smile has even been producing PVC figures of each known Fleet Maiden, donating the proceeds to relief efforts in the aftermath of Elvari attacks.
A series of online news groups track Fleet Maiden news and updates. Chief among them is the news blog "Fleet Watch", which is suspected to have contacts within various militaries and often post photos or breaking news that would otherwise be impossible to get.

7. What are common Fleet Maiden powers?

Fleet Maidens share several powers and drawbacks, with very few exceptions.

Seaworthy - All Fleet Maidens can "walk" in any depth of water without sinking below their knees, regardless of their buoyancy or the weight of their equipment. While in the water, their walk can reach several knots, equivalent to their patron vessel's top speed. The downside to this is that if the maiden is knocked off her feet, she will effectively be capsized and her equipment will quickly drag her underwater. The only way to survive would be to break transformation, removing the heavy metal armor and weapons from the equation.

Maidens with Submarines as patron spirits are not susceptible to "capsizing" and may right themselves without having to break transformation. Submarine Maidens can also stay underwater for several hours, supported by their magic, though many are unwilling to do this.

Arsenal - All Fleet Maidens gain the ability to transform and thus, gain the arsenal of their patron vessel when transformed. Though the weapons are scaled down to human sizes, their power is maintained through magical power. This magic gives the weapons of a Fleet Maiden unmatched piercing power against Elvari shielding. The magic also provides ammunition and takes care of reloading after each shot, fed from the Maiden's magical reserves.

Barrier Armor - The armor of most warships is so unbelievably heavy and thick that even scaling it down to physical armor on a Fleet Maiden would make her unable to move. The Ship Spirits solved this by translating their protective armor as a magical barrier with two forms.

Passive Barrier protects the Maiden on all sides. As the defense is spread out, it is overall weaker, but provides safety from all sides. In passive form, it is only visible when struck, and is prone to stressing and shattering in a fashion identical to Elvari shields. The passive barrier's strength depends on the armor of the Maiden's patron vessel. Heavier armored classes will have significantly stronger passive barriers.

Active Barrier protects the Maiden in a specified direction. This concentrates her defensive power, producing a wall of mystic light. Though defense is very high in the indicated direction, she becomes vulnerable from other angles. Like the Passive form, the active form is dependent on the patron vessel's armor. Heavier ship classes have active barriers so strong that no known force could pierce it.

NOTE: Maidens with Submarine patrons do not have Barrier Armor. They must Dive to Periscope Depth or Run Silent, Run Deep to protect themselves from enemy attack. This makes it very difficult to target them, but leaves them especially vulnerable to concussive weapons such as depth charges.

Fleet Mode - All Fleet Maidens have a hidden potential to engage a super mode. The actual name of this form changes from girl to girl. It requires a lot of external magical sources in addition to the Maiden's own power. Drawing on all of this extra energy allows her to temporarily manifest a spiritual recreation of her patron vessel at full scale, manned by an unseen crew and commanded by the Maiden at the helm. These Fleet Modes are an immense resource drain and, while known, have never been fielded in combat.

8. What are the Fleets?

The World Defense Fleets, more commonly known as just The Fleets, are groups of Fleet Maidens around the world who oppose Elvari incursions into their region. There are numerous fleets, only a few have been defined so far:

The 1st Fleet, based on Midway, covers the Oceania region, including Japan.

The 2nd Fleet, based at Scapa Flow, covers the European coastlines and Iceland.

The 3rd Fleet, based on the Galapagos, covers the Mexican coast down to Chile and Argentina. Their biggest priority is protecting the Panama Canal.

The 4th Fleet, based on Sicily, covers the Mediterranean. Their biggest priority is protecting the Suez Canal.

The 5th Fleet, based on the Canary Islands, protects the central Atlantic shipping lanes.

The 6th Fleet, based on Madagascar, protects most of Africa's coastline, up through the Red Sea.

The 7th Fleet, based on Sri Lanka, covers the southern Asian coastline from the Red Sea to Thailand.

The 8th Fleet, based at Perth, covers Australia. Also known as the Down Undertakers.

The 9th Fleet, based at Vladivostok, covers all of Russia's coastlines. The moniker is unofficial, as it is not part of the World Defense Fleet and does not take orders from this alliance.

There are also many instances of Fleet Maidens who do not join the Fleets, opting instead to only protect their own country. Tirpitz has been presented as an example of a Maiden who made this decision.

9. What is Magic like in Fleet Maiden?

Magic is connected to emotion. The Elvari found this out ages ago and the outbursts of magic fueled by strong emotions, particularly rage, is what resulted in their intense emotional control today. As a result, while all Elvari have magical talent, it is relatively uniform from individual to individual. The power produced by a typical Elvari must be amplified through technology to be of use in the rest of their technology. They are currently unable to cast any meaningful spells without this technology.
Humans as a species are incapable of using magic. There are individuals with the potential, often seen as witches, fortune tellers, priests, or shamans by the people around them. However they are incapable of tapping into this potential. As they cannot see potential that isn't being used even slightly, the Elvari do not believe humanity will ever be a magical species and thus consider humans beneath them.
This changes with the introduction of Ship Spirits. Magical potential is one of the qualities the Spirit searches for when looking for a candidate for her powers. In granting her power to the human girl who has agreed to be her vassal, the Ship Spirit unlocks the human's magical potential in order to make use of it.
As magic is connected to emotion, the humans who wield it are prone to dramatic spikes in power when the become passionate or enraged, placing them several ranks beyond even the strongest Elvari amplifiers.
When you get right down to it, the war between the Elvari and Fleet Maidens is one of Quantity versus Quality.

10. What are the Elvari?

The Elvari are a race of elf-like aquatic aliens. They have the ability to breathe both water and air, though Earth's atmosphere is a bit too oxygen-rich for them to be comfortable. They are known for a cold, impersonal demeanor and do not display any intense emotion, that having apparently been suppressed by centuries of dogma. The Elvari dislike passionate emotions because they feel it interferes with control, and most importantly, has the potential to make magic uncontrollable. In turn, the Elvari are a naturally magical race.
The intense emotions displayed by humans, as well as the lack of magical ability in humans, are the reasons why the Elvari have decreed that humans are beneath them. Their interest in Earth appears to be a desire to colonize it, and there are vague hints that their own homeworld has become somehow uninhabitable. Of course, before they can move in, they must evict the current inhabitants. They currently are known to have fortresses in the Dragon's Triangle near Japan and the Bermuda Triangle near America, though the exact locations of these fortresses is unknown.
Elvari magic is noticeable on an individual level, but not strong enough to be a threat to human weapons. The core equipment in any Elvari craft is a magic amplifier. The power is drawn from the pilot, who acts as both controller and battery. It is amplified and then fed to the various systems for propulsion, defense, and offense.

The way Elvari magic is used in combat can be broken down into the four basic elements:

Earth - The base magic for Elvari shielding technology. Normally invisible, the shield becomes visible as it takes damage, stressing and cracking in strained regions. If pushed far enough, a strained portion of the shield will shatter like glass, exposing the hull beneath. If the Elvari vessel takes evasive action, this region can be protected until it regenerates. A skilled Elvari commander will rotate his vessel constantly, protecting stressed areas and always presenting his foes with a completely intact shield. Of note,this shield is extremely good at blocking conventional weapons and a typical military force must concentrate fire for hours or even days to punch through. Magic and many Elite powers have an "Armor-Piercing" effect.

Fire - The most feared of Elvari weapons is their main cannon. After a charging period, the weapon fires out a concentrated lance of super-hot energy, searing through all it touches. This beam will carve through metal like butter. Most variants are sustained beam weapons, allowing the Elvari to sweep them in arcs that last several seconds, causing a great deal of damage. Depending on where it hits, this weapon can undoubtedly sink a standard warship. It quite literally burns through everything like a welding torch. If the weapon is damaged while gathering charge, the collected energy often detonates, causing severe damage to the Elvari vessel. All Elvari vessels have some form of this weapon.

Wind - A point defense weapon. Wind magic fuels the Elvari Pulse Laser weapon system. Rapid-fire, individually weak bolts of blue light which deal damage with kinetic force and are cool to the touch. These are used to shoot down incoming missiles, torpedos, and as anti-aircraft weapons. Smaller Elvari vessels use pulse lasers as their primary arsenal, pounding enemy vessels into submission. Ineffective against heavy armor. These can be set to auto-fire on any enemy target in range.

Water - Water magic fuels the Elvari response to submarine targets. Found primarily on smaller, faster vessels, the launcher hurls orbs of blue energy into the water. These sink to a pre-determined depth and then burst into short-lived, violent spheres of kinetic force. Very similar to depth charges, but significantly more powerful. Found on Destroyer-class and Cruiser-class vessels. Sometimes equipped on Elvari drone aircraft as well.

All Elvari craft can travel long distances very quickly via a system called the "Stream". This opens a vacuum tunnel underwater, following magnetic lines, and allows high speed frictionless travel to and from their fortresses.

All of their weapons are internalized, unfolding from the hull and superstructure after surfacing. Though they can submerge without folding their weapons back in, they must do so to enter the Stream.

All Elvari craft have an ejection pod system. If the battle is lost and the vessel unsalvagable, the pilot will always attempt to eject. This launches their command pod into the water for a speedy getaway.

With the command pod ejected, Elvari vehicles have no usable hardware not already understood by world militaries. All of the "essential" equipment is ejected with the pods or destroyed upon ejection.

Named Elvari:

Grand Admiral Kurita

Encountered at Panama Canal

Bermuda Fortress fleet commander

Captain of the Elvari battleship Leviathan

High Colonel Kasvaal

Encountered at Kure, Japan

Commadore Havtyl

Encountered at Glasgow, England

Lieutenant Tiyana

Encountered at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

MIA presumed KIA

Lieutenant Liyano

Encountered at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

11. What Elvari craft have been encountered? What are they like?

Battle Walker - A vessel with a sweeping hull, sporting four fins that run from bow to stern in graceful arcs. Its function is amphibious operations, and after leaving the Stream and surfacing, it rises up on three multi-jointed legs. The Battle Walker is analagous to the Cruiser, though is somewhat more awkward in high speed combat. The Main Guns deploy from the sides of the main body, while Pulse Lasers are mounted on the ends of multi-jointed arms above them. The Battle Walker has no ASW capability.

First encountered by the Union at Kure, Japan.

First encountered in-theme at Scapa Flow, England.

Destroyer - A small vessel sporting a thin hull which cuts through the water like a knife blade. The weakest vessel yet encountered, it makes up for this with speed and a tendency to operate in groups, harassing larger vessels until they surrender or, more likely, are destroyed. This vessel's main function appears to be anti-submarine and anti-air warfare. There is a single main gun, mounted forward of the superstructure. The destroyer's primary arsenal is a bank of six pulse guns and two Charge Racks on either side.

First encountered by the Union at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

First encountered in-theme at San Francisco, California.

Heavy Cruiser - A medium vessel shaped somewhat like a highly stylized, futuristic warship combined with a submarine. Its function is general combat and area superiority. To this end, it has modest speed and maneuverability, and features a well-rounded arsenal. The Main Guns deploy from two turrets, one forward and one aft. Pulse guns deploy in six pairs, forming a square around each main gun and the Charge Launcher, which is also mounted aft.

First encountered by the Union at Glasgow, England.

First encountered in-theme at San Francisco, California.

Battleship - A heavy vessel which forms the spine of an Elvari battlegroup. Though slow and fairly difficult to maneuver, the Battleship makes up for it with much heavier shielding, in fact boasting two layers of protection between attacks and the hull, which is also very heavily armored compared to other Elvari craft. The Battleship boasts six Main Guns, fitted two at a time into three turrets, two forward and one aft. Ten pairs of Pulse Guns occupy the sides of the hull and superstructure. Fortunately, the Battleship lacks any Charge Launcher.

First encountered by the Union and in-theme at the Panama Canal.

Carrier - A heavy vessel often accompanied by a Battleship or a group of Destroyers. Even slower than the Battleship, it lacks the other capital ship's massive safeguards and so much be protected by other Elvari vessels. If encountered alone at close, a Carrier is highly vulnerable. The trade-off is that, as its name suggests, the Carrier deploys large numbers of Elvari aircraft which can strike in swarms over long ranges. These aircraft are unmanned drones, armed with Pulse Guns and Charge Launchers which function either as anti-submarine weapons or as surface bombs.

First encountered in-theme at San Francisco, California.

The first Elvari warship ever encountered, joined after initial contact by Destroyers and one Cruiser.

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